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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

It has been rather silent here. I think of dozens of topics to write about - but somehow the day runs out before the words do. We are pushing to get the last weeks of school finished before warm weather hits. But otherwise, I don't have much to show for my days. That endless cycle of dishes, laundry, cleaning, and diapers.

The photo above is the sunset last night. Yes, we had more snow. As my daughter said, "I have to admit that the snow is pretty, but I wouldn't care if it didn't snow for a long time."

We made it through the winter with hardly more than a sniffle but the last week we were hit with some bad colds and coughs. A sick baby makes mom's nights short. (Or long - depending upon your perspective of seeing every hour.) I was spoiled to have a two month old that slept 8-10 hours a night. She is feeling better now so I'm hoping she goes back to her night routine.

I have been reading through Isaiah. (Very slowly. My Bible is prompted
up on the arm of the couch and I try to read a few verses while feeding the baby.
Sometimes I find myself reading the same chapter for the third or fourth
time.) There seems to be so many needs - in my own life, in my children, in my friends - and I am drinking in the encouragement. Numerous times in the middle chapters of the book it talks of God forming us and knowing us in our mother's womb. Amidst all the unknowns - God knows.

Two verses that were extra special to me this week.

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed,
and my blessing upon thine offspring:

Isaiah 45:3 And I will give thee the
treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest
know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of
Israel.

In a small
bowl, stir oats and orange juice until softened; set aside. In a
mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars; beat in eggs and vanilla until
well combined. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt
and cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture alternately with oat
mixture. Stir in walnuts and orange peel. Pour into a greased 13x9
pan. Bake at 350˚ for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted
near the center comes out clean. In a small saucepan, combine brown
sugar, butter, orange peel and juice. Bring to a boil; reduce heat.
Cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; stir in coconut and walnuts.
Gently spread over warm cake. Broil 4 inches from the heat for 2
minutes or until the topping is bubbly.

Florence
lives in the northwoods of Michigan with her husband and three
preschoolers. Her hobbies are writing and baking coffee cakes. A few
months ago she published a book titled My
First Deer Hunt.This is a
children’s story about the time her husband took their oldest son
(then four-years-old) to the woods for his first hunting trip. Email Flo at foxden @emypeople.net.

Saute onion in oil until lightly browned. Add garlic and saute for one additional minute. Add all remaining ingredients except cabbage. Bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add cabbage. Simmer until all vegetables are tender - about 15 more minutes. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Thanks so much for all your prayers for Tarica. Several of you have asked for an update. After testing for various things (including very scary things like brain tumors) the doctors have determined that she has epilepsy. Here is an excerpt from an email from Stephanie.

So she has epilepsy. They don't know why it roared out of
nowhere. They don't know what caused it. But they are hoping to
be able to control the seizures with medication...

I can't believe how relieved I feel about an epilepsy diagnosis.
If you had told me a week ago I would have an epileptic child, I
would have been horrified. But after considering the worst and
after the horrible 12 hours on Tuesday, epilepsy looks
manageable. Complicated, in many respects, but manageable.

Thanks for all your prayers. May I ask you
to continue to lift us up to the throne of grace? There is a new
normal to find and recuperation from a very rough week.

God has
been faithful and will continue to be so.
Stephanie

The last email I received from Stephanie said that Tarica was not reacting well to some of the medication. Can you please continue to pray for Tarica and her family?

Friday, March 14, 2014

This
coffee cake recipe came from a friend. I changed it slightly to suit
my tastes, and now consider it my favorite apple coffee cake.

1
box yellow cake mix

1
(20 oz) apple pie filling

3
eggs

1
tsp cinnamon

¾
cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Topping:

½
cup flour

½
cup brown sugar

½
cup butter, melted

½
cup oatmeal

1
cup mini butterscotch chips

Glaze:

1
cup powdered sugar

1
½ TBSP butter, melted

2
tsp lemon juice

Mix
all cake ingredients together and pour in greased 9x13 pan. Combine
topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350˚ for 45
minutes. When cool, mix glaze ingredients and drizzle over cake.

Note from Gina:

I didn't have a cake mix so I substituted my own homemade mix.

2 1/3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Cut in butter. Use as directed in any recipe calling for a white or yellow cake mix. The results in this coffee cake were excellent.

Florence
lives in the northwoods of Michigan with her husband and three
preschoolers. Her hobbies are writing and baking coffee cakes. A few
months ago she published a book titled My
First Deer Hunt.This is a
children’s story about the time her husband took their oldest son
(then four-years-old) to the woods for his first hunting trip. Email Flo at foxden @emypeople.net.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

I had planned to share a guest post from Stephanie Leinbach this week. But after the events of the last few days, it felt even more important. Please scroll all the way down to the bottom to read an urgent prayer request.

“Fifty
dollars!” I yanked at a stubborn weed. “That’s too much money
for me.”

“What
about five dollars?” She looked hopeful.

“Sure,
but I don’t have my wallet.”

“I
have it.” She waved an imaginary wallet. “I’ll take five
dollars out of it.” She wandered over to her father. “Do you want
some money, Dad?”

“No,
I don’t want any money right now.” He tossed a handful of weeds
down. “Do you know what I really want from you?”

She
didn’t hesitate. “Obedience,” she said and shot beneath the
pine tree before her declaration was tested.

Her
word hung in the air, and I pulled more weeds to its echo.

Obedience.
What I really want from you.

I
sat back on my heels, dusting off my hands, and watched the light
fade behind Brush Mountain. Obedience.
It’s what You really want from me, God. Remind me again of Your
commands.

Gently,
the Word unfolded in my heart: Love
God with all thy heart. In everything give thanks. Pray without
ceasing.

I
winced. Truth hurts.

Wives,
submit. Rejoice evermore. Love thy neighbor as thyself.

The
unchanging Word washed over my weary soul. I was convicted and
renewed all at once.

Laughing
and shrieking, the girls raced past me, caught up in another invented
game. “Come, girls,” I called, getting to my feet. “It’s time
for baths and bed.”

As
I herded my little flock toward the house, I pondered the
life-changing power of simple obedience. Simple, but so hard.

Do
you know what I really want from you? His
voice still probed my heart.

Obedience,
Lord.

I
drew a deep breath of the growing darkness, watching the girls
chasing fireflies, dancing with arms outstretched to the starry
heavens. Thank You,
Lord.

My
husband fell into step beside me. “Why are you smiling?” he
asked.

I
looked from the girls to him, gratefulness warming my heart. “I
just realized God likes to teach lessons on obedience in a garden.”

Nearly nine years ago, Stephanie
married the best man at her wedding, and since the two of them are opposites in
almost every way possible, there hasn’t been a dull moment in over 3,127 days.
They live on the side of Brush Mountain in central Pennsylvania. God has blessed
them with three children to raise for Him and three children safely in heaven.
Stephanie is the author of Light My Candle, Prayers in the Darkness of Miscarriage. You can contact her at
lightmycandle @ abcmailbox.net. Or check out her blog.

Note from Gina: A few days ago, Stephanie's four year old daughter Tarica began having seizures. One was so bad that she went unconscious. They are now at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital. Tarica reacted badly to the first anti-seizure medication going into hallucinations. Please pray that they can stop Tarica's seizures and find out why they are occurring. I'm sure all you parents can imagine how scared Linford and Stephanie are at this point. Let's hold them up in prayer.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

This weekend, I served breakfast pizza at a brunch. I had forgotten how much we love breakfast pizza as I had not made it in years.

My mom always makes breakfast pizza on our hog butchering day. I probably don't make it because I don't typically get up early enough in the morning to make a yeast dough before breakfast. But it would be simple to put dough in the fridge the night before. If I had my meat pre-cooked and some leftover baked potatoes, it would be easy to assemble. In other words- if I just would get my act together we could enjoy breakfast pizza more often!

Or maybe I should just make it for supper!

This recipe is very adaptable. Feel free to add mushrooms, peppers, or whatever toppings you prefer. I use my mom's easy pizza crust recipe but you can use frozen bread dough or any other pizza crust.

Spread pizza crust dough in large (11x17) pan. Sprinkle meat over crust, sprinkle with potatoes and top with cheese. In bowl, beat together eggs and seasonings. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with ketchup if desired.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Another
recipe I found in a Taste of Home cookbook, and one of the best!

1/3
cup shortening

1/3
cup butter

1
¼ cups sugar

3
eggs

½
tsp almond extract

2
¼ cups flour

1
¼ tsp baking powder

½
tsp salt

1
pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

½
cup lemon curd

½
cup seedless raspberry jam

1
cup fresh raspberries

Streusel:

2/3
cup flour

1/3
cup sugar

1/3
cup sliced almonds

¼
cup cold butter

Icing:

1
cup powdered sugar

4
tsp lemon juice

In
a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter and sugar until light and
fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine the flour, baking powder
and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Set aside 1
cup batter.

Spread
remaining batter into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Combine the cream
cheese and lemon curd; spoon over batter. In a small bowl, beat jam;
stir in raspberries. Drop by tablespoonfuls over lemon mixture. Drop
reserved batter by tablespoonfuls over top.

For
streusel, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar and almonds. Cut
in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

Bake
the cake at 350˚ for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted
near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3)

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Welcome! I am Gina, a Mennonite mom who loves serving the Lord, my husband, and dear children (ages 13,11,10,8,3, and1). This is where I ramble about books, broccoli, and baking bread. In May of 2017 my husband was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer so I'll include notes from our cancer journey.